Ruin
by FadingMoonlight
Summary: Konoha has fallen apart. The shinobi are disgraced, feared and exiled. Their lives have been torn apart. Their powers locked away. It would take the deaths of the very people they once protected for them to find their freedom again.
1. Chapter 1

The village was in ruin.

Every shinobi village saw destruction. Every village felt the effects of fear and panic and rage. Buildings were destroyed and rebuilt. Whole sections renewed at a time after becoming dust in the wind. It was the unity and strength of the people that held any ninja village together.

Konoha was broken.

Where once shinobi had been respected they were now feared. Instead of seeing the usefulness of their ninja's techniques, the civilians saw only the evil. They cringed from the possibility of darkness in the things they couldn't learn themselves. They ran from the prospect of domination.

Shikamaru dreamed sometimes of before. He knew the times were gone, but the dreams came on him anyway. He had been more successful than he ever would have liked, but he'd fully enjoyed it. His life was full of the small joys of seeing his friends return safely from missions and of helping to bring them home. Love, friendship, happiness had grown there, then. There was enough light that these had been plentiful.

Those are shameful feelings in this new place. A shinobi is a beast, a monster in human skin that waited to steal your life from the shadows. To love one was to love your own destruction. To love one was to embrace a life not worth living, or that would not last long anyway.

Ruined lives. Lost futures. Shikamaru picked out these things as he wandered the streets. They were there, ghostly images of possibilities forgotten; hanging in the air hoping someone would pick them up again. They clung to the wall, the symbol of their being; the monstrosity that divided the village, civilians from ninja.

It was a feeble construct, more symbolic than practical. No such thing could ever stop the shinobi if they decided to fight for their right to live freely. They were hated, and even so kept their compassion for the village they protected for so long. They didn't fight. No one bothered to cross the wall without reason.

Shino was standing at one of the few entrances between the other side and this one. His girl hovered on the other side. Ruined lives and lost futures. Shameful feelings she couldn't admit without joining him in exile. Shameful feelings he'd never expect her to show him now. Neither crossed the barrier, the future they almost had hanging in the eternity between them. Shino was going to marry her, once. Before. He had the ring that could have been hers hidden in that dark place all good memories are protected.

Shikamaru left them alone. Their pain was their own. It made no difference that he had to detour around them. In a world where work was hard to come by, being later than expected was no real problem.

He was lucky in that regard, Shikamaru supposed. Most everyone in his clan was shinobi trained or at the least shinobi loved. They were all outlawed and frowned upon together. But their deer were instrumental to the medicinal world and the economy of the village. As such the entirety of the Nara clan got a partial pardon. The sin of being a shinobi was somewhat excusable when protecting a valuable village resource.

Not everyone had gotten off well during the negotiations of peace. There had been talk of having the Aburames exterminated, of having the Inuzuka's canine companions put down. One particularly violent faction of civilians wanted the Hyuugas blinded, there being no known way to seal their Byakugan. The same almost happened to Kakashi, for his sharingan, with the argument it wasn't his to begin with. All weapons were confiscated and grand debates were fought over the basic living supplies that could be used as such. It took quite a few promises and oaths for the worst to be kept at bay.

Choji's mother answered the door. Shikamaru opened his arms to the troubled woman, giving what comfort he could offer. She was a civilian, scorned for her love for her family. AT the dividing of the village she'd been given the chance to turn her back on her husband and son to live on the other side, where life was better. It had changed her, broken some part of the happy woman's heart that no one could reach.

Choji came to welcome him as he released the woman. Somehow his smiled hadn't changed. He smiled, but the happy aura was dimmed, stolen away by the manacles on his wrists and ankles. Think iron bands welded shut with no lock or key. His father had identical bands, as did every other Akimichi on this side of the wall. A compromise to avoid unnecessary fighting. Weights, then been called instead of something worse, to hamper movement and prevent use of their expansion jutsu. I didn't. Under stress, any Akimichi could break those bonds. It was a sign of faith that they didn't.

"Hey Shikamaru." Choji put a comforting arm around his mother.

The Nara grimaced as he returned the welcome. Even after years of Choji swearing he hardly noticed them, it pained him to see his friend chained.

"Oh, don't look like that Shikamaru." The good-natured shinobi kissed his mother gently, "I'm going out, Mom. I'll pick up some more meat from the butcher. Few more vegetables too." He promised.

"Not too much Choji." The woman reminded him quietly. It was difficult, both men knew, for her to deny her family food, but money came hard. They grew what they could, but when they shared what little they could more was always needed.

"Well, you know my plans today," Choji said when they left after reassuring his mother, "You have any errands?"

"No. Just needed out of the house."

"We could go watch the clouds. Do nothing for awhile." Choji pondered how they could spend the day.

"They haven't changed, from before." Shikamaru noted, turning his gaze to the sky. It was irrational, he knew, to feel betrayed. Their passive beauty continued when his world deteriorated. "The clouds just get to keep floating in the sky."

"that's good isn't it? It would be depressing if everything changed. Especially if even the clouds ran away from us."

Shikamaru didn't respond. He just watched a cloud drift lazily around the sun. He felt the familiar wish to become a cloud, and the disgust with himself. Somehow his wish was polluted. Deep down he knew he'd use the heavenly freedom to darken and storm on those that imprisoned his friends and family.

"I saw Shino today." He said instead, "while heading to your place."

"Yeah? I haven't seen him in awhile. Did he look good?"

"He was talking to his girl, through the wall."

Choji faltered before trying for optimism. "It's good they're still talking, isn't it? I mean, if things change they, they could still have a chance."

Again Shikamaru didn't say anything. The silence was filled with the hollow metallic sounds of Choji's manacles hitting together with every step.

_If things change._

It took so many deaths to change the world once. How many would it take for the world to change again, even if the Konoha ninja were willing to fight?

* * *

**NOTES-** not my characters, rights not mine, the usual disclaimer, you all know it.

I needed something new to write about, so this is my try at that. Honestly, I don't know where this is going. I don't know if it'll just be action and darkness and such, or if romance will take over. This chapter was mostly just to set the setting, so it's the next few chapters, when I get around to them, that will dictate where things will end may change, characters may change, genres may change.

I encourage reviews, criticism, and ideas if you would like to share them.


	2. Chapter 2

The negotiations over the lives of Ino and her father went on for days. Mind-walkers, they were called. Their every technique involved walking through unprotected minds. They were dangerous, and couldn't be left alone to steal the secrets of the civilians, were the argument against them.

There was no precedent for how to hamper their jutsu. Short of killing them, the only way to absolutely ensure incapacitation of a mind-walker was total amnesia, or brain damage enough they often lost the ability to take care of themselves. Both were unacceptable choices. The peace talks nearly dissolved several times over what to do.

Ino and her family lost their flower shop when the shinobi were exiled. Their luck had it on the wrong side of the wall. It had been in their family for generation, since the founding of the village. It was everything to Ino's mother. The loss nearly of her whole life nearly broke her.

It was especially bad during the negotiations. Ino's father went to try and convince the civilian negotiators of a civil compromise. Her mother fell into a dark depression. At first Ino stayed home and tried to coax the woman out of her shadow land. When her efforts came to nothing, Ino got angry. She rejected her mother, stalking the streets during the day, spending the night with whoever would take her. Her home wasn't a home and she didn't want to see it fall completely apart.

It was hard for Choji and Shikamaru to watch Ino's downward spiral even while her life was being debated. They offered everything they could: their arms, their homes, and their comfort. They took care of her mother while their friend desperately lost herself. Together they kept tabs on her; worried she might go too far. They had to know where she was and how much damage she was doing to herself.

Almost two years later Choji still did to some extent keep track of her usual haunts. Ino got better her father secured their lives. Her mother's world brightened. Ino still avoided sharing a roof with her parents when she could, but her actions weren't as dangerous.

They found her tangled in a game of poker. The two men had to wait while she finished the latest round; losing a small pile of trinkets she had won a few games back.

"You guys look like you're up to fun stuff." Ino greeted them as she excused herself angrily, promising to win back her loss later.

"Just some shopping," Choji said, "Passing time."

"Choji seemed to think you'd want to come along," Shikamaru added, "Don't know why."

Ino didn't deign to answer him. She just took Choji's arm and turned her back on the Nara. Shikamaru still caught a glimpse of the smile that had snuck up on her.

The clinking of Choji's manacles filled the companionable silence as the trio started walking. It set their pace, matching up with the swing of Ino's long hair.

Ino was as vain as ever. The niceties she was used to years ago, were not as easy to afford, but that didn't stop her. She kept herself clean and put together with what she could, which was more than some could say. Her hair was still her pride and joy, though she forwent the ponytail she'd sported for years.

Shikamaru followed close behind his friends. He watched Ino's hair sway and saw the vanity of it hiding her fear. The gold ocean that tried to drown the promise of her death.

Ino was chained to civility, her manacle hidden under her hair. She, unlike Choji, couldn't break free of her chains should the need arise. The Hyuuga curse mark was adapted. Rather than having to be activated by a person, it was linked directly to the chakra network at the base of the neck. Any abnormal use of chakra activated a warning jolt. To disregard this warning was permission for the seal to make a direct attack on the brain. Brain damage was promised, though severity varied. Death was a definite possibility.

Ino left her hair down to cover the mark, the only sign of her fear. She hid the seal because it was a link to her life, her weakness. Other mind-walkers had already been strangled by their chains.

"Where have you been staying lately?" Choji asked Ino. "Your dad was over last night and figured he'd see if I knew anything."

"I can't believe it." She seethed, "I'm not thirteen anymore, _Dad_. I don't need him checking up on me, or you either for that matter. I can go where I want, stay with who I want."

"He was just wondering Ino. We all do when you disappear without a word."

"I don't need you or Daddy worrying about me." Ino scowled. She switched arms, exasperatedly leaving Choji for Shikamaru. "AT least Shikamaru understands that I can take care of myself. Right Shikamaru?"

"Let us know you're alive once in awhile, troublesome woman." Shikamaru placed a light kiss on the blonde's hair, an action he'd taken too lately, cementing her look of indignation.

"I can take care of myself. Always have, still can." She repeated, her mouth set in faked disgust.

Choji and Shikamaru were probably the only people in the world that could hear the quiver behind her words. The wind took it up and repeated it, whispering Ino's hesitation in their ears. Never again would she be a ninja. Never again would she draw on chakra like she used to. Ino was defenceless in ways she wasn't trained to deal with.

"We know. We never said you couldn't." Choji tried to mediate, as he always did. "Anyway," He continued, "Your dad was wondering if you'd go home tonight. Be there tomorrow?"

The flash of emotions across Ino's face was complicated. All things akin to weakness and fear, of yearning and lust and sadness. A momentary lapse in her defences.

"You know how much I don't want to call that home." She said quietly, drawing her walls back up. "I mean, Shikamaru has to help with the deer, and you Choji stay to make your mom happy, but why should I stay with my parents still? I want to have my own place, like I'm supposed to at my age! Not still live with my parents."

"We know how you feel Ino. We understand, we really do." Choji said just as quietly. "So do your parents. It's just, you know, tomorrow…"

"Tomorrow…" She echoed. Pain laced her voice.

"It would be nice, if you could be there with them tomorrow." Choji finished decisively.

Tomorrow, thought Shikamaru, the 22nd of august. The anniversary of the beginning of the end; the beginning of their world falling apart.

The death anniversary of the last Hokage, the Lady Tsunade.

* * *

**Notes-**So, my excuse for this coming out so slowly is that I was grappling with making it longer, but I couldn't start and end where I wanted to when I did. In the end I left it, hope it's not to awefully short.

Reviews, criticism, flames. I don't care. Everything is welcome :)


	3. Chapter 3

"Today is August 22nd." Nara Shikaku addressed a solemn crowd. They stood in their own darkness cast by the once proud Hokage building. "Eight years ago today a tragedy struck, and we gather here in remembrance."

He was answered with silence. The weight of the past pressed on every person.

Shikamaru gazed up at his father. Despite the austere occasion, pride lightened his chest. The shinobi lifestyle was extinct. His father held no rank anymore, he had no importance in their lives and still he commanded the respect of head jounin.

"Eight years ago today Lady Tsunade met her end. In a mystery that still haunts us now, our Lady Hokage was murdered." The elder Nara told them all gravely. The enormous understatement there just dimmed the dark atmosphere further. "It was a terrible day when we as shinobi failed to keep our commander and chief safe.

"But that is not what we gathered here to contemplate. Our lady Tsunade was the best shinobi of the village and, even together with her guards she couldn't protect her life. The stack on her was well planned and her attacker no doubt strong. Our failure was not that we were weak, but that we needed to be stronger.

"We are shinobi." He said passionately, "Times may be hard now, we may be looked down upon, but nothing changes what we are. Aim always to be stronger."

The overall message went unsung. The silence where the final words should have rang spoke for Shikamaru's father with a volume he could never have achieved.

Never forget the past, but don't get lost in it. No matter if they were a ninja or not, the village as a whole would be lost in the past today.

It was a month before Shikamaru was to turn nineteen. He remembered Ino going on about her plans for her birthday. He remembered seeing Lee loudly trying to push his teammates into some wild activity they were sceptical about. Everyone went along with their lives, assuming the Hokage was hard at work in her offices. It was late in the day before anyone even suspected anything as wrong.

The murder itself was as brutal as anyone had ever seen, only made worse by the utter lack of evidence. By the time the crime was discovered the perpetrator was long gone. It was investigated for months, even after the higher ups had officially stopped it.

Shikamaru knew now that was the first crack in the fall of their society. Thinking back, he could see the village falling apart as time passed. Any doubts about the capability of the ninja after the invasion by Orochimaru and the annihilation Pein had caused were brought to light. What were the Shinobi doing if not protecting their leader?

The advisors took over all the Hokage's duties after her death, claiming that no one was fit to take over in such a fragile time. They were old, their overly passive attitude quickly becoming evident. More than one catastrophe happened because they were too slow to act or counteract. It just got worse and worse during the two years they held onto the rank.

Civilian defiance became an epidemic as they grew more confident in their views. At first the attacks were small—refusal to give shinobi work or some such—but as more people joined it got more elaborate, to the point things got dangerous for the ninja.

It was a unanimous agreement that no shinobi wanted to harm the lives they had sworn to protect with their own. They stood defiant for awhile, but all must come to an end. When it became apparent that the only way to stand up to the civilians was to hurt people, the decision was made to surrender.

Negotiations followed. Choices were made, and every shinobi traded their old lives for this one.

Don't get lost in the past. The past is over; it has done nothing but lead to present, grim as it may be.

Off to the right a roar shattered the silence. The startled crowd separated and drew away from the anguished man. He roared and lashed out in anger.

The remains of the Hokage building shuddered under the blow. Pieces of seared wood and stone rained down on the man; the building's last defence against its attacker. Even when he backed off the building stood menacing in its destruction.

Shikamaru's father joined him and his mother in the crowd. He took his wife's hand, accepting her sorrow with the grace and poise of a man who was acting as solid ground for their world.

All around people did the same, taking comfort from one another. The weight of this tragedy too much for a single person to handle.

Even Naruto, known for forever being optimistic, stood as silent as he did the day the last Hokage was put to rest.

There was no official ending to this ceremony. These people who gathered here willingly were under no obligation to stay. They could leave just as willingly as they arrived. Slowly people just left. For today, life may have slowed down, but it never did stop. Families with children so young they knew not the importance of today were among the first to leave; the children not enjoying standing around. Once one family left, others took it as a sign they could follow. Even so, it was awhile before the gathering significantly cleared out.

"You going to tell me to stop staring at this old building now?"

"It has been all afternoon." Choji pointed out, "Most everyone's already left. Besides, don't you have work to do or something?"

"Ah, work is troublesome," Shikamaru replied predictably, "How about we get something to eat instead."

If Shikamaru found anything comforting, it was that Choji's love for food never faded.

"So what is it that you think about?" Choji asked when he was happily heating barbeque over a small grill.

"When?"

"Today, and last year today, and the year before." Choji smiled, "Basically every year. You always end up staring up at the Hokage building for hours after everybody else has left. Just was is it you think about all that time?"

"Just the usual, I guess." Shikamaru turned his gaze out the window. Shadows clung to the shoulders of every passerby, worse than even the usual melancholy. "I was just thinking about life."

"Life…like before?"The Akimichi asked quietly.

"No. Life since. Like how much Tsunade changed everything and whatever." Shikamaru admitted. "I can't help thinking that maybe everything really ended with her.

"Worrying is troublesome, Choji." He continued a moment later, trying to quash the pity that was creeping into Choji's eyes. "It's just some thoughts; nothing important. Everything thinks these kinds of things today of all days."

"I know," Choji whispered unhappily, "I know. You bring it up every year, but still. I don't like hearing you say such depressing things, or anyone else. Besides, it's like your dad said, the point of today is to remember to look to the future. Not worry about the past."

A rue smile crept onto Shikamaru's lips. Without a word, he stole a piece of meat off the grill. Choji, distracted for a moment from his bleakness, blitzed his friend, managing to snatch back the food before it met his lips.

"I'm just bothered that we never found out who killed her." Shikamaru said finally, "sometimes, I almost feel like it's their fault that things are like this now."

"How do you think that?"

"Nothing, really." Unable to really find the words to express what was bothering him, Shikamaru was more than ready to change subjects. "It's just a feeling I get sometimes. It's basically gone already, now that we're doing something else."

Shikamaru accepted Choji's challenging stare with one of his own. Under Shikamaru's effortless look, and with the tantalizing aromas of meat cooking, Choji really had no chance at winning. With an unhappy pout at being left out of his friends thoughts he dropped the subject.

And Shikamaru continued playing with his gut feeling that somehow the people responsible for the Hokage's murder were connected to things too complicated for him to fathom without more details.


	4. Chapter 4

The stairs of the old Hokage building were just as burnt and destroyed as the outside. Everything was almost completely destroyed in the fire. Whatever was left was a deathtrap. Shikamaru picked his way up the stairs with all the care he could. He had to watch his every step. Everything was coated in a thin layer of dust, even over all the ash. Years had passed since anyone even thought of coming to this building; Shikamaru shouldn't have either, but something was bothering him. Here was the only place where there were possibly any answers.

Seven years ago, a full year after Tsunade's death, the investigation was put to rest. This was seven or eight months after the advisors had issued an official end to the investigation. When it was decided there was nowhere left for the investigation to go, all the documents were put in the Hokage building. Despite the dangers, habits dictated they were kept safe in the document library.

Everything was charcoal and soot, blackened walls and piles of remnants. Nothing was left untouched by the devastation.

All alone in the center of the room was the small box. In the past it would have been neatly organised on shelves. Now, without shelves or any other document to lose it with, it had just been left out in the open, waiting for the day someone would continue to search for Lady Tsunade's killer.

Waiting for Shikamaru.

Even if he had placated Choji with promises to let it go, Shikamaru couldn't shake the suspicion there was something more that he was missing. A connection they had overlooked. There would never be an ending until she had justice. Though they all lived their lives, not a single shinobi would be satisfied until her killer was caught.

For a moment Shikamaru hesitated, hand hovering over the box. He wanted to believe Choji, believe he was over thinking things, stressing. Logically, he knew that opening the box meant he was delving back into a world he wouldn't be able to back away from again.

He recognized the writing on the first file as his own. Crime scene photos, the autopsy report, notes about every clue real or imagined they looked at. Everything here at Shikamaru's fingertips, right down to his own speculations he'd spent hours writing down for others to consider. If only he knew what to do with it all.

He picked it all up and started his way gingerly back to solid ground. He would read over it all at home. He could only hope that after seven years there was some detail he had forgotten, or some lost connection he could unearth.

It took him to the solid ground outside the decrepit building to realize he didn't want to go home.

Shikamaru, unlike Ino, accepted having to continue to live with his parents. Of course there were still downfalls to living with his parents, but they all did their best to be understanding. Housing was limited this side of the wall, and the Nara's had better accommodations than most.

The Nara clan houses all bordered on their land, most having at least one door facing towards the forest. Growing up Shikamaru loved being able to look out and catch glimpses of the deer among the trees. It had always seemed so magical.

By that magic the Nara's were able to keep their homes when so many others were forced to move. The wall had been built around the Nara lands, with a designated entrance where they could trade their antlers and medicines with the civilians.

He made an inspiring speech every year, one he fully believed, but Shikamaru saw how their failure weighed on his father. He was a shinobi, proud and strong for his family and anyone else who needed him. Shikaku had lived his life as a shinobi, risen as far up the chain of command as he could and had lost it all to a single miserable failure. It wasn't the Hokage's death that hunched his shoulders, but never finding her murderer was unacceptable.

Shikamaru turned corners at random; trying to get lost in streets he had walked his entire life. It was hard to keep his feet from turning onto familiar paths. He walked the perimeter of shinobi lands. From the wall that kept the village safe to the wall that kept its civilians safe from its ninja and back again. The streets were clear, gathering clouds scaring people into their homes.

He wanted to leave, but there was nowhere for him to go where he could escape the utter devastation.

Shikaku said nothing to his son about the box or its meaning as he watched Shikamaru trudge to his room hours later. How could he refuse his son what he wished for just as dearly? He himself had seen the change that had come over Shikamaru since the wall was erected, since they had all learned their new roles.

"I hope you find more than disappointment Shikamaru."

* * *

**Notes-** Short chapter, I know, but I really needed to update _something_, and this story was desperate. This is more of a transition chapter than anything else. My apologies if anyone actually reads this and was waiting.

Reviews (good or bad) are very nice :)


	5. Chapter 5

_Fire._

_The soul of every Konoha shinobi burning bright and strong; the energy of the village coalescing into physical flame; the determination to protect everything, everyone. Such brilliance. Such hope. Everything Konoha has ever known._

_The pyre of the Shinobi Empire was a brilliant sight. Shadows cast on the makeshift wall dancing into silent stories from the time when he could twist those shadows._

_The records were in that fire. The investigation being ended once and for all by the flame's consuming hunger. It didn't matter; they were empty._

Useless.

Shikamaru opened his eyes, slowly bringing his ceiling into focus. His gaze travelled along the supporting beams, wishing they lead to the answers he couldn't find in the Hokage's files. Maybe the shadows were hiding them. The sun hadn't risen.

The apathy from his dream swept over Shikamaru with an unfamiliar heaviness. Another day wasted.

Despite the early hour there was a knock on the door. Shikamaru recognized the agitated rap that preceded his mother. With a groan he had to force himself to hide the grim notes and gory photos before his mother lost her patience. Grief hadn't dulled her sharp tongue.

"You have to leave this room," Yoshino proclaimed, "Go help your father with the trade."

He was busy. He had to find the ghost that had ruined their lives. He had to continue an investigation that had nowhere left to go.

"I'm not giving you an option Shikamaru. Go." Hands on her hips Yoshino glared her son out the door.

The Nara lands hadn't changed. Behind his home the trees spread out as far as the eye could see, covering the earth in a blanket of green life. Through the trees he could catch glimpses of the deer. All the spring babies were nearly past their awkward youth and growing well into their natural grace.

Some days Shikamaru took comfort in the familiar peace. Today he was fed up with the past, with the false promises of the future. He made short work of the distance between his house and the Trade Door.

Any other door in the Wall was simply a break in the construction; the Nara Trade Door was the only one constructed as an actual door. It was built to be sturdy and withstand any sort of beating. It led into a small building, specifically designed to limit how many could enter from the shinobi side. A single long counter marked the grey zone that the shinobi were sworn not to cross.

"Shikamaru," Shikaku greeted his son formally.

"Dad," Shikamaru echoed, nodding to his clan mates. There were few of them, just enough to carry their goods and not enough to frighten the civilians.

"Shikaku," A woman broke in, "I want to petition for our medicinal equipment. We know more about the worth of our deer than they ever could. We could get more trading medicine than raw materials." Her voice cracked, letting loose a note of desperation.

"Kirara, you have my permission to try," Shikaku solemnly acknowledged her wish to help those that were struggling to find the money to survive, "but you know as well as I that they have not budged on the matter as of now. They will only try to convince us to sell our clan secrets."

Everyone looked away from the flash of disappointment. Then her shoulders set, "I don't care. They'll have to at least consider it if asked enough times."

Shikamaru's father nodded, picking up the nearest box of deer antlers and looking at his group, "Shall we go?"

The civilians watched as they filed into the small space. Every look was hard with distrust. The Nara's just bent their heads to it.

"That's quite the haul," their leader said gruffly as he eyed their growing pile or wares.

"It's been a good summer," was all Shikaku gave him. No mention of the work that was put into them or the crude work-rounds that had to be done to do the jobs of some of their tools they'd had to give up. No mention of the hard births that had taken some of their deer.

That was all the small talk the tense room could handle. Before anyone could lose themselves or any claws could come out Shikaku leapt into the negotiations. Years ago the civilians wanted to put a constant tare on the Nara's wares, but when it came to their deer, many shared Kirara's fighting spirit, and the issue was never properly solved. The worth of the Nara deer meant too much to the village as a whole

Few of the civilians participated. This wasn't a job they took willingly. Most of them took the job for the extra cash that was offered as incentive. They were only there to prove in numbers that the people with the money had the power. They stood back and chatted among themselves while the main players argued over prices.

They were the ones that Shikamaru watched. He had learned awhile ago that if he wanted to know what was going on beyond the wall this was the best place to find out. The civilians were relaxed here, more so than anywhere else a shinobi might be, and they were loose about what they talked about. He listened to a lot of nonsense and gossip, but once in awhile, especially when something big was going on, he heard something worth it.

Two stood off to the left by themselves. They looked to be friends, judging by how close they stood. They talked too low for Shikamaru to pick anything out.

The rest of the men not actively participating in the negotiations were not nearly as guarded. They gathered in the largest area, opposite the growing pile of Nara goods that were being passed over the counter. One man in particular was telling a story. It must have been a continuation from one he had started before they came in, because it took Shikamaru a minute to grasp the situation. He was fired, and was loudly ranting about having to take such an awful offer of having to come to this trade in order to make ends meet.

Another dead, useless end. Shikamaru would have given anything for the information network he once had access to. Pity for the man was hard to find, who would easily find a new job tomorrow, or next week and who would get unemployment benefits to feed his family in the meantime, unlike Shikamaru and his friends.

"'I'm just not making the money that I used to,' Mr. Fujimaki tells me. Like that makes it any better for me and all those other guys that he laid off."

It took Shikamaru a moment to place what about the comment had caught his attention. Mr. Fujimaki. The company in charge of crime scene clean up had a manager by that name; the same company that had cleaned up the Hokage's crime scene. Shikamaru had seen the receipt just last night.

"'My big account just closed up,' He tells me, 'I just can't afford to expand like I was planning, and so I don't need all you guys.'"

"That hack was planning to expand?" The other men laughed, "Come on. How many other places could possibly need a nuclear cleanup crew like that?"

Shikamaru's brain started whirling. They were talking about the same Mr. Fujimaki that had cleaned up the Hokage Building, which surprised him. He was not, however, surprised to learn about his grand expansion dreams. Shikamaru had met the man once, and he would never forget the condescension. It was not that Mr. Fujimaki was proud of his job, but more that his social status did not matter. He was better than everyone anyway.

Around him, the negotiations moved onto Kirara's plea for their tools. With every exasperated look she got from the civilians her calm broke down a little more. It was not long before the same desperation she showed earlier showed through again. She lost the fight the moment she raised her voice, everyone could see it in the civilian negotiator's face.

A few more minutes and the trade were officially closed. Kirara's fight was lost, but Shikaku had managed to gain them a fair sum of money and trade slips. The clan would share the trade slips with the shinobi that were suffering the most, giving them a chance to gain what little food and supplies they could get at the black market for the written promises. Trade slips were not worth much, a bar of soap or a hunk of meant, but to some people that was all they could get in this economy.

Mr. Fujimaki should not have had the money to even consider expanding his business, Shikamaru reflected as they trudged back through their lands with their meager prize. Shinobi messes made up the majority of hi business. He should have hit hard times when the shinobi fell into shame. He would have needed another source of income, Shikamaru realized, to support such a dream. One that had been constant until recently.

It was a jump to think that bribe money was that other source, even further to think it had anything to do with the Hokage's murder. Shikamaru would easily admit that. Yet some part of his mind refused to let go of the thought.

Paranoia, just like Choji was afraid of. He was being paranoid. In truth, Shikamaru did not much mind. If paranoia was all he had left in this new world, it was better than nothing.

* * *

**Notes-** I know that took awhile. I can't say anything other than I'm sorry. I didn't have a clue where to go for the longest time with this. Now I do.

Inspired by the song _Fire_ by _Sleeping with Sirens_. I thought you should know :P


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